Burner unit for gas-heating apparatus



Jan. 22, 1929. 1,699,624

H. W. ODOWD BURNER UNIT FOR GAS HEATING APPARATUS Filed oct. 25. 1926 22 lNvEToR I l l L f i ATTO R i YS Patented Jan. 22, 1929.

lUNI-TED STATES i 1,699,624 PATENT OFFICE.

i HENRY W. ODOWD, OF JERSEYCITY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORTO STANDARD GAS EQUIP- MENT CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF MARYLAND.

BURNER UNIT FOR GAS-HEATING APPARATUS.

- Application led October 23, 1926. Serial No. 143,556.

This invention is directed to an improved burner unit for gas stoves or ranges and for gas heating apparatus in general. In the embodiments illustrated, the improved burner unit comprises specifically an annular Bun sen burner member formed in its inner perimeter with a circular series of laterally directed flame ports, and a panshaped metal shell or casing surrounded .by the burner member' and containing La solid bed of refractory material andan overlying foraminated or reticulated Wall of refractory material, said bed and overlying Wall being adapted to be heated to incandescence, and forming between them a shallow combustion chamber. The flames from the burner project into the combustion chamber through a circular series of secondary air discharge openings formed in the side of the shell between the refractory bodies and adjacent or in line with the fiame ports. The top of the shell, in one form of the invention, has a hood depending over the Bunsen burner so as to form a secondary air chamber common to all of the discharge openings, while, in another form of the invention the shell is fashioned so that it may be used in a gas range equipped with a burner plate which provides a similar member and secondary air chamber to contain the burner.'

As the burner unit is thus constructed, the' secondary air is supplied and distributed in ample quantity to allv the flame jets and to all sides thereof, so that complete combustion is insured under all conditions of use, and the direct heat of the flame vjets is absorbed in part by the solid refractory bed of the shallow combustion chamber and in part by the reticulated refractory top wall thereof, both ot' theserefractory bodies being heated to a state of incandesccnce and radiating the beat upwardly within the area defined by the flame jets. The intense incandescence' of the refractory elements in conjunction with the positivo and complete aeration ,of .the fia-me jets permits ot' combustionthroughout the. extent of the shallow combustion whole chamber and greatly increases the heating efficiency ofthe burner unit. and this whether the burner is operating at high or low pres- :sure` it being observed that the radiant heat of the burner flames is utilized to the fullest extent. The metal shell is also useful in pref venting contamination of the secondary air supply by the Waste products of conibu'stlon,

as well as in guarding against back pressure, air currents, and other influences which might interfere with proper combustion or impair the heating elliciency of the burner.

The improved burner unit is particularly advantageous in cases Where it is desired to lo-4 cate the burner unit in close proximity to the part to be heated, Whether a cooking utensil or some other part, the arrangement being such `that the flame jets areenveloped with secondary air and the fuel wholly consumed Within the limited contines of the shallow Y combustion chamber. The exact construction of the parts and their advantages Will best be understood from the detailed description to follow. .l

In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken through the upper part of a range of the closed-top variety constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is aV top plan View, on a larger` scale, of part of said range and of the burner unit, parts being broken away;

F ig. cis asimilar View of a modified form of burner, parts being broken away; and

Fig. 4 is a Vertical section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

The improved unit comprises, generally speaking, a Bunsen burner member A, and a heating radiating device including a shell or casing B, and two refractory elements C',

ries of nibs A", having oriices A7 through which the gaseous mixture issues and which constitute the llame ports of the burner. fuelK 1s supplled to the burner membelgas usual, through a mixing'tube A8, provided at 'its entrance end with an jan' chamber A",

into which the gas is discharged from a nozzle A1o under the control of a sto A, In all the figures the ame ports are directed laterally, as distinguished from ver-- tically or '.perpendicularly, the invention being primarily concerned with burner mem- The cock or valve v bers formed with such laterally directed flame ports and having in view the complete aeration of the flame jets and the eliminatlon lio "fumes andl lowering the yheating etliciency of theburners. This is especially true when the burners/a-re'pla/c'ed close to the cookin utensil or the partto be heated, whenbac pressure occurs or eddies are created which limit or prevent the percolating action referred to; Moreover, fin burners of this type there is considerable Wastage of the heat units due to the horizontal disposition of the fla-me jets. In other words, the direct heat of the burner is `derived 'almost entirely from the uppei' sides of t-lie flame/j ets, the heat given oil' by .l t-he under-sides vand tip ends of the flames being largely dissipated instead of concentrated y,upon the cooking lutensil. With this brief explanation, it vis believed the utility of the present invention will becomemore apparent.

The shell or casing B, which preferably is made of metal, may likewise bel of any. desired .shape or form, depending largely upon the Aform or shape ofvthe'burnermember. In the present instance, `the shell is made inthe shape of a panNarranged within or `surrounded bythe burner. The shell is`- vformed withA a circular series of secondary air openin s B-in its side adjacent or in line with the aine ports of the burner. While the gas ribs Al might project into or through these air openings it is preferred to have them terminate short of the openings as show i.

The heat radiating elements C and C2 may similarly be of any desired shape or form, depending upon the Shape of the shell in ivliicht-liey are located or upon the disposition of the flame ports, and may be made of :my desired material adapted to function in the required manner. theelement C is in the form of a'solid bed of refractory material such as fire clay, placed in the bottom of the pan Bto constitute the floor of the combustion chamber," while the element C2 is in the form of a. foramina'tedr or recticulated late'or disk, also composed of fire elay,an'd supported within the pan B, as by means of llugs I), to constitute'ptlie 'top or upper wal] of the combustion chamber.

vThe openings C3 of 'the ,element C?, which l may be of lany desired outline, serve the dual function of providing an outlet from t-he combustion chamberl for theproducts o f combustion and of permitting the vdirect passage of the heat from within thecornhustion chamber. Some of the heat of the flame jets will /be absorbedby the top wall( C2 and'be radiated upwardly toward the part to be heated In the present instance and some will be absorbed by the bed C and be radiated upwardlyto be passedl directly through the openings C3 in the top wall or be absorbed andV eventually radiated upwardly by said Wall. The heat absorbing and radiating surfacev of the combustion' chamber is increased-by making the. sameor part thereof irregular in'contour, and pref- -erably this irregularity appears in the surlface of the bed C', Whiclnas shown, see Fig. 4, is formed lWith numerous protuberances C4 of varying heights and dimensions. These j protuberances C4 perform a further and important function in thatthey serve to interrupt the flow of the flames and cause them to spreadin all directions, the Whole interior of the combustion chamberthus becoming a.

scribed is ideal for prodiicing'an intense heat,v

none of which will be dissipated but all of which willv be utilized to the fullest extent. Under normal conditions, combustion will be confined to orconcentrated wholly within the combustion chamber C, giving the appearance of ailamelessburner and producing in effect what may be-,Qtermed surface combustion.

provided with a depending.. hoodv B2 which partly encloses Ithe burner member A and` 'forms a secondary air chamber D common to all of the discharge openings B and open kat the bottom for the admission 0f air thereto. The shell B is also lshown as supported on the burner member A by means of recessed ribs D depending from. the inner side lof the hood and interlocking with lugs A rising from the burnerv member. served, the ribs D and lugs A12 are such that the shell lmay be readily applied to or removed from the'biiiner by lowering or raising the 'shell vertically, as the case may be'. Moreover, the interlocking engagement of the ribs-and lugs serves to prevent turning of the sliell when inv place and thus maintains As will be oli-4 In Figs.' 3 and :4, the shell B is shown as the secondary air discharge openings B al- It will 4noiv bey seenIthat, in the operation- Ways in proper alignment with the burner rectly by the flame jets as they project through the openings B into the combustion chamber C. Since the openings B entirely surround the flame ports, each flame jet will be entirely enveloped with secondary air in order to produce'complete combustion. In

other words, notwithstanding the lateral disposition of the flame ports, the secondary air will reach, not merely theundcr sides of the Vflame jets,but every part thereof and in quana stoveiplate. or other part, will be subject substantially to the entire heat developed by the burner, the o enings C3 in the top wall C2 permitting, as a ove explained, the direct passage ofthe heat. The lrefractory material, in addition tothe performance of the important functions just noted, also aids in promoting combustion, serving by its incanv desceiice to heat and consume any unburnt gases which may enter the combustion/chamber from the ame ports. In fact, the flame jets, spreading in all directions as heretofore noted, will fill the combustion chamber witha ,mass of flames, which liames will moreover be confined to the combustion chamber,

thus producing an intense heat within the V limited extent of the combustion chamber without interfering with proper combustion and with the minimum consumption of fuel.

While the various elements composingthe improved burner unit cooperate in a peculiar Way in producing the results aimed at, nevertheless they perform individual functionswhicli mightbe useful alone or in other arrangementsas well. For instance, itis pointed out that, due to the restricted areas of the discharge openings B., the. pressureof' theproducts of combustion atthe flame ports is reduced to a minimum, thereby lessening the tendency to back pressure and hence more nearly preserving the initial entrainment of.

the primary air. Moreover, the hood B? protects the burner from outside. disturbances and serves as afshield to prevent tli'e clogging flame jets enter the combustion chamto make the shell integral with the burner member, as by casting, and this is conteniplated bythe present invention. It should also' be noted that, insofar as the heat radiating feature is concerned the combustion chamber might be made up entirely of refractory material, in wliiclrcase the shell B could be dispensed with by otherwiseproviding for the support of the refractory material in proper relation to tlieburner member.

In Fig. l the improved burner unit is illustratedas embodied in a gas range of the type covered'in my prior Letters Patent No. 1,403,814. As shown, the range comprises an oven 2 and al closed smooth-surfaced cooking top 3, the latter being arranged above and in spaced relation to the top wall 4 of the oven and extending rearwardly beyond the back Wall 5n of the range and formed throughout itslengtli with arseries of-.outward openings or vents 9 adapted to dischargeinto a flue l the products of combustion-issuing from both the top burners andthe oven burner. At this point it may be noted that the products of combustion from the oven 2 pass off through a Itop Hue l0 rcommunicating at the rear througi openings. 11 with an outlet chamber or poc et 12 having a narrowfpassage 13 reg-` istering with the vents 9. A burner plate 18 (preferably made `of cast iron) is located in the space between the closed cooking top 3 and the oven top wall 4 and provides in ef- -fect an upper heat generating chamber 19 and a lower secondary air chamber 20. As shown, the burner plate is arranged in close parallel relation tothe overlying cooking top so as to provide a shallowheat Ygenerating chamberwhich will serve to heat the entire top whether one or more ofthe burners arel in operation at a time; In this connection it may be 4stated that it is proposed to employ aplurality of burner units below the forward portion of the cooking to'p, although only one is shown in Fig. 1: The burner plate 18 is -recessedlatvthe front to receive the burner unit and is designed to exclude secondary air from the heat generating chamber except that which is entrained-by the burner flames. Also, the burner plate being immediately' above the f burner member A forms with the latter member a restricted passage or chamber 21 for burner from outside disturbances and shields the llame ports from drippings or other foreign substances fallingY from above. Inproviding for the support of the burner unit, the burner member A is shown as the supporting element, being formed on its underside with a recessed lug A22 resting upon a supporting rod A2.3`in a Well known manner. The shell B rests upon the burner A, being provided for this purpose with projectingr earsBse/e `Fig. 2, which interlock withibosses A13 on the burner A. The upper edge or rim of the shell B abuts against the under surface of the cooking top 3, adjacent the edge of a lid opening 22 in said cooking top. As will be observen, the shell B is of substantially the same diameter as the lid opening, so that the combustion chamber C formed in the lower part o'f the shell is limited in effective extent to the area of the lid opening; hence, when a cooking vessel is placed in the lid opening or v` leave the shell through vents B4 at the top and enter the heat generating` chamber 19,

.flowing rearwardly therethrough and escaping into the flue l. In escaping, the waste vproducts are caused to 'give up their heat to the overlying rear portion of thc cooking top, which maythus be said to possess a sec* ondary calorific surface available for slow cooking and warming up or keeping hot such food as may already have been cooked, The heating capacity of the'escaping products is greatly increased bythe shallbw character of `the heat generating chamber, due to the close proximity of the burner plate 18 to the cooking top'3, theproducts being caused to'pass between vthe two without substantial expansion vin a 'stratum -of substantially 'uniform character which imp-arts practically the whole of its heat to the cooking top on the one hand and the burner plate lon the other. The

' burner plate becoming hot, will in turn radiate its heat to the` overlying cooking top and aid further in promoting theV heating efficiency of the range in this respect. More' over, some of the heat radiated from the burner plate will be imparted to the air entering the underlying secondary Vair chamber 20 and hence enablethe'air to be more effectively entrained at the flame ports. The effect above described will take place whether one or more .of the burners are in operation at the same time, although necessarily the maximum heating effect will be .obtained by the use of all ther burners simultaneously. Once the cooking top is heated, one burner alone will keep it hot, since the heat generating chamber is substantiallyro-extensive with the top and allows t-he heated products of combustion to'be distributed uniformly throughout the entire under surface of the` top. The behavior of the burner unit will have been understood from the foregoing description, it being apparent that no secondary air can enter the heat generating chamber except that which is entrained through the discharge openingsB by the llame jets directly.

The invention is not, of course, colin'ed to the yprecise constructions shown and described, nor to any particular construction by which the same may be'carried-into effect, y as many changes may be made in the details thereof Without departingfrom-l the main vprinciples of the invention 'and without sacrificing its chief advantages. It should bev understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific form or embodiment, except in so far as such limitations .are specified in the claims. l v

Having thus described my invention what I claim is as follows:

l; A burner unit including, in combination,

a shallow covered combustion chamber having vent openings in the cover and secondary air f openings at all sides, and a Bunsen burner member surrounding said chamber and having laterally directed. flame ports adjacent said secondary air openings.

, 2. A'burner unit including, in combination,

a shallow combustion chamber comprising and both arranged to permit the flames from said flame ports to'enter the combustion chamber through said secondary air openings.

3. A heat radiating device presenting a horizontallyr disposed shallow combustion chamber and comprising incandescingtop' and bottom walls,the former having vents for the products of combustion, and a side wall extending around the combustion chamber and formed throughout its extent with secondary air openings adapted to permit the passage of flames from a combustion chamber.

4. A heat radiating device presenting a horizontally disposed shallow combustion chamber and comprising top and bottom walls composed of refractory material, the top Wall having vents for the products of combustion, and a side Wallextending around the combustion chamber and formed throughout its' extent with secondary air openings adapted to permit the passage of flames from a gas burner into the combustion chamber;

5. A heat radiating device presenting a horizontally disposed shallow combustion chamberand comprising top and bottom walls composed of refractory material, :one

gas burner into the, l

of said walls having its inner face fashioned in irregular contour, and the top Wall having vents for the products 4of combustion, and aside wall extending around the 4combustion chamber and formeduthroughout its extent with secondary air openings adapted of flames fromV a gas to permit the passage t h b us lon c am er.

burner into the com 6. A burner unit including, in combination, a heat radiating device presenting a horizontally disposed shallow combustion chamber and comprising top and bottom walls composed of refractory material, the top wall having vents for the products of combustion, and a side wall extending around the combustion chamber and formed throughout its eX- tent Withsecondary air openings leading into the combustion chamber, and a Bunsen burner member having laterally directed flame ports arranged to project the llame jets through saidsecondary air openings into the combustion chamber.

7. A burner unit including, in Combination, a horizontally disposed supporting shell, a bed of refractory material placed in the bottom of said shell, a reticulated wall of refractory material supported Within the shell above the refractory bed, said shell being formed at all sides between the two refractory bodies with secondary air openings, and a Bunsen burner element having laterally direoted llame ports arranged to project the flame ports through the secondary air openings into the combustion space formed between the refractory bodies.

8. A burner unit including, in combination, a ring-like Bunsen burner element formed throughout its inner perimeter with laterally directed flame ports, and a pan-shaped shell surrounded by said Bunsen burner and having secondary air openings adjacent said ports, said shell having a hood portion overhanging said burner, whereby a secondary air chamberis provided to supply air to the upvper sides of the flames entering said openings.

9. A heat radiating device including, in combination, a pan-shaped shell, a bed of refractory material laid in the bottom of said shell, and a reticulated wall of refractory mas terial supported in said shell above the bottom bed, said shell being formed at all sides between the two refractory bodies with secondary air openings to receive the llames from a gas burner.

l0. A burner unit for gas-heating apparatus comprising an annular Bunsen burner member formed throughout its inner perimeter with laterally directed flame ports,'and a combustion chamber surrounded by said burner member and having secondary air openings through which the burner flames project. j

l1. A burner unit for gas heating apparatus comprising an annular Bumsen burner member formed throughout its inner perimeter with laterally -directed flame ports, and

a panshaped shell arranged Within said burner member and formed with secondary air openings adjacent the flame ports.

l2. A burner unit for gas heating apparatus, comprising in combination, an annular Bunsenv burner member formed throughout its inner perimeter with a series of laterally directed llame ports, a pan-shaped shell surrounded by said burner and having an eX- terior secondary air chamber and an interior shallow covered combustion chamber having refractory Walls, said shell being formed with openings leading from the secondary air chamber into the combustion chamber adjacent the flame ports, and the refractory cover of said chamber being formed with vents for the products of combustion.

In testimony whereof, l have affixed my signature hereto.

HENRY W. ODOWD. 

